Punjab-based NGO moves SC against 'Udta Punjab'

PUNJAB: After Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Chief Pahlaj Nihlani, now it is a Punjab-based NGO which has approached the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court verdict on Udta Punjab.

The Human Rights Awareness Association has pleaded that the movie ‘Udta Punjab’ has projected the state in a bad light.

The Bombay High Court on Monday said that the film 'Udta Punjab' can be released with just one cut, while other cuts ordered by the Central Board of Film Certification in the movie were struck down.

Reiterating that the CBFC had been empowered under the law to certify films and not to "censor" them, a division bench of Justice Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi said that after reading the script it did not find that the mention of Punjab and other cities threatened the sovereignty of India.

It asked the CBFC "not to dictate" to filmmakers what words or scenes can be used in a film. The court further added that the CBFC should not interfere with creative work, unless creative freedom is abused.

A host of B-town celebrities who came out in support of the makers of the movie believe that CBFC Chairperson Pahlaj Nilhani should step down, a feeling not shared by the CBFC CEO.

Nihalani has been at the receiving end of criticism since he took charge in January 2015.